


A Long Drop

by Lady_Sci_Fi



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 01:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16713754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Sci_Fi/pseuds/Lady_Sci_Fi
Summary: While exploring the Grand Canyon, the Doctor has an accident.





	A Long Drop

“Wow!” Sarah smiled widely as she looked across and down into the Grand Canyon from the start of a trail at the top. “This is… well, it’s breathtaking.” She looked up to the Doctor beside her. “It’s beautiful.”

 The Doctor put his arm around Sarah and stared out over the landscape before them with her. They both turned back as their rented mule made a sort of impatient sound.

 “I think he wants us to get going,” Sarah laughed.

 “He can wait a minute.” The Timelord let Sarah go to reassure their mount, and he took a deep breath, appreciating the beauty of the landscape. He chuckled a minute later when the mule nudged his back. He turned to see Sarah already on it, holding the reins.

 “Alright then, off we go,” the Doctor agreed. He climbed up onto the mule behind Sarah, and the animal began to head down along the trail.

 Sarah didn’t really need to direct the mule, as they had been told by the trainer at the tour center. It gave her a measure of comfort to hold them, though. She definitely took comfort in the Doctor’s strong arm around her middle.

 “This is nice,” Sarah commented a few minutes later. They were both enjoying the ride down the canyon, listening to the light wind and the other sounds of nature around them. She giggled at the kiss to her temple, and patted his hand in response. He reached around her with his other hand to also take hold of the reins.

 This was a beautiful date the Doctor had taken her on, and Sarah was loving it as they continued to gradually descend down the canyon.

 A little while later, they stopped at an unfenced overlook spot, and got off the mule. The Doctor bounded across the rocky surface to be near the edge, and threw his head back with a grin.

 Sarah followed a little more carefully. She grinned as the Doctor held out his hand for her to take. “Oh… now that’s a view…” she remarked as she settled beside him. “You know how to treat a girl when you’re feeling romantic.”

 “Who says I’m feeling romantic?” the Doctor teased.

 Sarah laughed and shook her head. “Says me.”

 A few minutes later, Sarah turned at the sound of a group of mule steps. A group on a guided tour approached the overlook. She let go of the Doctor to give them a friendly wave.

 The Doctor took a step forward to get a better look straight down. He let out a yelp as the rock he was standing on slid out from under his foot at the readjustment. He was too close to the edge to try to backpedal, and ended up sliding off the ledge.

 “Doctor!” Sarah shouted, turning back to him in time to see him disappear over the edge. She went down to her hands and knees to crawl to the edge to look over. Her heart leapt up into her throat as she feared the worst. She expected to see the Doctor falling down to his death far below.

 Sarah allowed a small exhale of relief when she saw the Timelord’s scarf looped around a small tree growing outward from the stone surface of the cliff, and hanging below was the man himself, several meters below the overlook. “Doctor!” It was certainly a long drop to any ground if either his grip or the scarf gave out.

 “Miss, your friend-“ started one of the people from the tour as he hurried to her side.

 “I’m alright, Sarah,” the Doctor called up. He wrapped the scarf around his already tightly-gripping hand to be more secure, and to try to ease the increasing pressure of the material around his neck.

 “Bring rope!” the tour guide called back to his charges.

 The Doctor choked as this precarious footing slipped, and he swung sideways. He fought to get it back, and called up, his voice now rougher, “I could use some help.”  

 “Working on it,” Sarah called back down.

 “Hang on, sir, we’re securing a rope for you now,” answered the tour guide.

 “Not much-“ the Doctor coughed and tried to loosen the scarf around his neck. “-else I can do at the moment.”

 Sarah glanced back to the tour guide and a couple other people tying a long rope to a nearby small tree. She looked down to the Timelord. “How long do you think you can hold on for?”

 “As long as necessary.”

 Sarah sighed at his lack of a proper answer, and impatiently gestured for the people with the rope to hurry up. They hurried to her a few seconds later, and the guide muttered, “Hope this is long enough.”

 It took several minutes to get the rope down to the Doctor and for the Timelord to untangle himself and the tree from his scarf and enough to grab it effectively. Several members of the tour group helped to pull him up. The Doctor did his best to use his feet against the rock to climb.

 As soon as he was close enough to the top, Sarah reached down and grabbed his hand. “I’ve got you,” she assured him.

 “I never doubt that,” the Doctor replied with a little smile.

 A few seconds later, he was on safe ground again, on his knees. Sarah squeezed him tightly, then pulled back a bit to look him over. He had a few scratches on his hands and face, but otherwise looked unharmed.

 “You both okay?” the tour guide asked.

 “You alright, Sarah?” the Doctor asked. At her nod, he answered, “Yes. Thank you for your help.”

 The guide told his charges to return to their mules. Then he commented. “Bit of a miracle, you surviving that.” He eyed the long scarf, now loose around the Doctor’s neck. “Lucky you were wearing that, despite the warm weather.”

 “Oh yes, this does have its uses,” the Doctor replied with a wide grin.

 “Right… You two are invited to join my tour, if you like.”

 The Doctor and Sarah glanced to each other, and looked back to the guide. “We’ll be fine,” Sarah answered.

 “This is a very nice spot,” the Doctor added.

 “Alright, then we’ll be on our way. Stay safe.”

 They watched as the guide and his group rode off. Then they sat on the overlook, not as close to the edge as before, and stared out at the view together.

 Now that the danger was over and Sarah’s heart had stopped beating frantically, she pulled the end of the scarf over her shoulders and joked, “Honestly, Doctor, I can’t take you anywhere.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a true story from my dad, when he went to the Grand Canyon with friends in 1985, and one of his friends fell off a ledge and saved himself with his "Doctor Who scarf."


End file.
